which only reappeared fifty years later. Performance history The first staged performance of Salammbô took place at the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, on 29 March 1983 in a version revised and edited by Zoltán Peskó. The work was repeated on 30 March and on 1, 2 and 6 April. It had originally been agreed that the role of Salammbô in these performances would be sung by Lyudmila Shemchuk and that of Mathô by Georgy Seleznev, but the Soviet authorities subsequently withdrew the exit visas of both singers, and they were substituted by Annabelle Bernard and Boris Bakov respectively. Because of these enforced changes it was necessary to postpone the date of the premiere from 26 to 29 March. In 1989 Vyacheslav Nagovitsin was commissioned to produce an orchestration in the fullest possible version, in addition to the available the numbers orchestrated by Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Vissarion Shebalin. This staged version of the opera was first performed at the Ancient Roman arena in Mérida in Spain. Roles Synopsis Setting Time: 241 to 238 B.C., before and during the Mercenary Revolt. Place: Carthage (in what is now Tunisia). Although no complete synopsis is available, Tedeschi states, it be reconstructed fairly accurately without any effort, since Mussorgsky stays close to the handling of the original. Act 1 Scene: Hamilcar's Garden in Carthage After the war with Rome was lost, the mercenaries Carthage recruited from Europe and Africa are rebelling, because they have not been paid. To calm them down, they are invited to a festive feast in the gardens of Hamilcar's palace. Soon it degenerates into a brutal argument. Slaves are freed from the underground dungeons, lions and elephants are mutilated, the sacred fish are eaten. When Salammbô, the daughter of Hamilcar and priestess of Tanit, appears (singing) in the middle of the violent goings-on, it soothes their spirits. Mâtho, the chief of the Libyan warriors and the Numidian leader Narr'Havas are captivated by her appearance. Act 2 Scene 1: Spendius, a freed slave, urges Mâtho to sneak into Carthage in order to steal the miraculous veil guarded by Salammbô, the Zaimph, which protects the city. Scene 2: The Temple of Tanit in Carthage In the temple of Tanit. Salammbô sings - first alone, then with the choir - a hymn to the goddess and decorates the altar with emerging and stealing the veil. The Virgin awakes, sounds the alarm, the stage